Page 294 of Remarried Empress

Inside the box was a precious jeweled necklace. It was Evely’s necklace that Rashta had supposedly picked up at the Southern Palace. Sovieshu had intended to give it to her earlier, but he was so busy with work that he had forgotten about it.

“Take a look at it.”

The court mage politely accepted the box handed over by Sovieshu with both hands.

The mage examined the necklace like a hungry dog while Sovieshu watched his gaze intently.

Eventually, the court mage’s complexion brightened.

“I don’t know if this is Evely’s necklace, but it certainly contains mana.”

“Take it away and ask Evely if it’s hers.”

“Yes.”

“In case it is hers, borrow it from her to study.”

“And if it’s not hers…”

Sovieshu remembered Rashta, who had asked him if he gave this necklace to Evely, and answered simply,

“Yes it is.”

He sounded confident. The court mage bowed to Sovieshu and left. Then went to Evely.

Evely anxiously awaited the mage’s return to his laboratory with his other assistants, and approached as soon as he entered.

“What did His Majesty say? Will he help me?”

“Here, look for yourself.”

The mage held out the box. Evely took it quickly and screamed at the sight of the necklace. She was so happy that she even stomped heavily on the floor, and asked,

“How did you get it so quickly?”

“It seems His Majesty had picked it up.”

“What? This?”

Why would the Emperor pick up a lost necklace in the Southern Palace? Evely found it strange, but didn’t ask the details. She imagined what had happened just by thinking about it a little, but she didn’t want to confirm this unpleasant fact.

“In any case, this is good, Evely. If this necklace really has restored your mana, then you can get the rest back!”

This was what really mattered now.

When the court mage exclaimed excitedly, Evely clenched her fist and nodded,

“Yes!”

“Other mages might as well get their mana back.”

Evely put her fist to her chest. Her heart was beating fast. She was very happy.

For a mage to lose mana was terribly painful and desperate. Evely knew this very well, so she wanted to be of help to mages in her same situation.

“I hope so.”

After these words from Evely, another court mage’s assistant, who had reached over to grab the necklace, suddenly cried out in pain.

Evely paused and looked in his direction. The senior assistant swayed as if struck by lightning.

“Senior Assistant?”

Before she could ask, ‘What happened to you?’ He fell to the floor with a thud. It occurred in the blink of an eye. The sound of his head hitting the ground echoed violently, like an old tree falling.

“Asuya!”

The court mage ran in terror to his disciple and shook his shoulders desperately.

“Asuya! What’s wrong? Hey!”

The court mage repeatedly shouted his disciple’s name before nervously placing his hands on the desk. Without thinking, he took several books and placed them under his disciple’s head. He unbuttoned the stifling buttons and rolled up his sleeves, but he was still unconscious.

“Evely, get the doctor!”

“Yes!”

Evely, surprised and bewildered, hurried out of the laboratory.

The mana stone in the necklace, which was thrown to the ground, glowed and darkened, but neither Evely nor the court mage had seen the scene.

The fallen disciple woke up after a whole day.

Although he had hit his head hard when he fell, fortunately nothing happened to him. He had a bruise around his shoulder blade, but it was not serious either.

A horrible truth awaited him. The loss of his mana.

He had been competent enough to be an assistant to a court mage, and was full of passion for magic. However, in this short period of time, all his mana had disappeared.

“It can’t be!”

The assistant fainted again from the shock.

Upon being informed of the incident, Sovieshu went to visit him immediately and did his best to comfort the desperate assistant.

The assistant was touched by the emperor’s personal support, but he could not stop from falling into despair. For him, who had lived as a mage all his life, he felt empty at the loss of mana.

Sovieshu promised the assistant,

“I will definitely find out the cause and return your mana.”

In fact, he worked on it relentlessly from that day on.

He first sent for Evely and the court mage, as well as the other assistants, to hear each one’s version of what happened.

Although they all witnessed the same, each would remember it from their own perspective. Therefore, Sovieshu intended to put together an objective account of the different points of view.

Having reached this conclusion, Sovieshu called Evely again. She had brought the necklace that originated this incident, so she had to clarify where it came from.

“Who ‘exactly’ gave you the necklace?”

“The dean.”

“He didn’t say anything special when he gave it to you?”

“He just said that wearing the mana necklace could help me feel the mana…”

After Evely left, Sovieshu called one of his secretaries and ordered,

“Go to the academy to talk to the dean. Find out about the provenance of Evely’s necklace.”

* * *